101 roleplaying descriptions justifying martial dailies

I'm pretty sure that someone's feelings aren't something that can be argued against.

If you say 2+2 is 5... well, yes, it can be argued against. having feelings and/or an opinion doesn't make it valid.

"Your feelings are wrong! Change the way you feel!": the argument doesn't work, no matter how much evidence you have that their feelings are wrong, because it's not on a logical level.

And at the end of the day, 2+2 is still 4.

Barbarian rages in 3e were a different beast than martial dailies in 4e, so drawing that comparison is false and misleading to begin with.

But even if they were the same thing, 4e's martial dailies and encounter powers obviously ramp up the unreality of the situation. If the barbarian rages were limited enough in scope that you could mostly ignore it, 4e's martial powers are certainly not so limited

And if it bothers your suspension of the game to the point where you won't play it... there are a ton of great games out there that may encompass your play style. No matter what your feelings on 4e, it's not going to change the mechanics of the game. If you look at the game and the underlying assumptions and say, "this sucks" and can't play it because of that, I respect your feelings. If you say no one can play it that way, well, that's where the 'feeling's go I suppose.


Don't put the cart before the horse, there. The point of the game is to give me appealing mechanics that I can play with. It is 100% the fault of the game if it doesn't give me that: presumably, they could have done things differently, and they didn't, and a D&D message board is exactly the place to discuss the things you don't like about D&D that you want to be done differently in the future.

Ah, we're talking about WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE in the game as opposed to how is the game playing now. To me, those are seperate issues.

I am the customer, here: D&D is competing for my money and free time, and it is failing to achieve it. It's not my fault if it fails. It doesn't want to fail. It wants my money, it wants my time. It needs to be receptive to the way that I think...I can't be wrong, because it's supposed to serve me.

Good in theory but if the new edition captures a larger consumer base than it loses, factually wrong. The game can continue to piss off its old fans for decades. Games Workshop has certainly proven this model true to a point.

Discussing why it fails to achieve it is completely within the scope of the conversation here. With some positions, perhaps D&D won't ever realistically be able to achieve popularity with me, but in this specific case, 4e is obviously trying something new, and they need to see if it works or not. Threads talking about why it doesn't work for some people are entirely useful, because then we get a sense of what can make the D&D game better for delivering fun to more people.

And yet... it's not really about why it doesn't work for some people because on the other hand, it does work for... other people and changing it to appease X means you piss off Y.

Well, that's part of the idea for this thread, isn't it? "How can I try and think about things in a new way that helps me enjoy what it is?" is basically the question in the thread title. People aren't categorical and immutable, so they can change (or they can change the game) enough to make it worth playing, if they want to.

I can agree with that. But only if they're actually, you know, playing the game. People who are armchair gamers sitting back and reading and doing zero playing, to me, have about as much say as people who illegally steal things online and think that companies should listen to them because they're read all the products.


Specifically, the point of the game's intricate balance needs to be called out as a thing that doesn't have to exist: they could have balanced the game with martial powers that were "always on," but they chose not to. That's a choice that can certainly be debated by fans of the game.

Perhaps it could have been debated by the creators of the game before hand but that stall is empty and the horses are on the field.

It doesn't mean that future supplements may not take that rotue but unless this is a discussion for tearing down the entire structure of the game to make martial feats more believable, it's certainly seems outside the scope.

Second, you seem to think that they want other people to share the view, but from what I've seen in this thread, most of them just want others to accept that they have a problem, and maybe propose ways to fix it. They don't want to change the way you think, they want the game to match more how they think.

But it's not going to. Unless they hosue rule everything from the ground up, reality is not going to suddenly change itself as if the X-Men's old foe Proteus popped up around the corner.

Third, the conversation is entirely topical for the boards, so "Move Along" just seems to be a way to shut down a conversation that you're not a fan of. If you're not a fan of people talking about how 4e encounter and daily powers don't meet their sense of verisimilitude, and so make the game less fun for them, just don't come to the thread. Certainly "You're feelings are wrong and you should shut up!" is not very constructive for helping anyone.

I guess I'm questioning the people who don't actually seem to be playing the game and are instead playing another game and armchair gaming 4e.

4e's various changes certainly speak against that. The game goes through editions, and 4e certainly took a lot of things that people didn't like about 3e and changed them. 5e will take things that people don't like about 4e and will change them, too. Furthermore, people designing supplements for 4e might find a way to change the game to something more appealing.

All true.

The game does change because I don't like it. The game has changed before because people don't like it, and it will continue to change because people will never be totally satisfied with it.
But it doesn't change mid-stream. Perhaps I'm underestimating WoTC but I don't think we're going to see another edition of D&D for say, 5 years. With that in mind, I'm just not seeing a lot of utility in the complaints which generally fail to offer anything outside of "I don't like it."



It's not about liking or not liking an entire edition. This thread wasn't started with "Come here and tell me how much you love 4e!" in mind. There was a specific problem to address -- a specific problem that didn't need to occur, and that can potentially be fixed for those who have the problem.

Is it difficult for you to be OK with people who have problems with 4e? If so, then I'd advocate ignoring the threads about 4e problems, rather than entering them just to tell people that they're wrong and need to shut up.

We agree to disagree. The specific problem 'didn't need to occur' is an opinion and those who have it, and if I've misread someone, let me know, from those who actually aren't playing the game. Why should someone who isn't playing the game have an equally valid opinion as someone who is? For example, Kamikaze Midget, are you playing 4e?
 

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Just because previous editions had similar rules does not make it a good counter example. For some of us, it was just as bad in previous editions. I use the Barbarian Hunter variant from UA as the default for barbarians, because I dislike the x/day uses and that it is a barbaria only ability. Rage, in my campaigns, became a feat that allows one to make concentration checks to enter, willingly break, and maintain (after con bonus rounds) rage.

And I guess here's where my "4e is not for you" comes into play.

If you didn't like the mechanic in the previous edition in small doses and went out of your way to rewrite the rules, then I can't honestly see how without a massive system overhaul that 4e is going to hit the RPG spot for you.


And I'm not saying that's a bad thing. As others have pointed out, the game goes through editions. As a GM, I love 4e. Much easier to handle. As a player and fan of the game itself, I'm a little disappointed that every class is now about resource management and that there is no 'stepping stone' style character.

I enjoy many games ranging from Rolemaster and Warhammer FRPG to Elric and Conan. D&D does it's own thing and always has. Sometimes that thing is not what people who played previous editions wanted.
Are you playing 4e now?
 
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lutecius said:
5e can't come soon enough
That would/will be a great opportunity to back off from the trend of, in essence, imposing on D&Ders complex rules structures tailored for a particular style of play. The design could get back to modularity and a simple kernel, with a menu of optional elaborations to suit different tastes.

My two offerings above are clearly supernatural because I can't think of any naturalistic rationale that holds up better than a tissue in the rain. The dealings with gods, spirits and/or runes justify -- as best I suspect it can be justified -- the in-role knowledge and choices, and the sometimes bizarre effects.

The flip side of not finding powers naturalistic is insisting that they must be naturalistic because of the "martial exploit" label. By conventional appraisal, they are magical. Either way, it's "just fluff" -- the game mechanics are what they are.
 


(1) As I offered in the other thread: gifts of the gods. As in Greek mythology, heroes and monsters are pieces in games of the gods. The powers have arbitrary effects because they are miraculous, and arbitrary limitations because that's part of the game the gods play. Does every goodwife and ploughman get such abilities? No -- only those chosen to play roles requiring them, in the heroes' sagas.

(2) Heroes bind spirits to their service, the terms of which are as in the 4E rules. See RuneQuest, especially Cults of Prax, for general "flavor" that may be inspirational. Drawing again on RQ, different classes (or builds within a class) might involve different Runes.

If you were going to go this route, there are other venues you could check.

The above are all role playing based. The following would be as well.

Berserk: In the manga Berserk, the main character Guts has a hand cannon. It's power is devastating. He generally only uses it in certain conditions and in D&D 4e terms, it would probably be a daily. One of the times he uses it in when his enemies think he's at their mercy. Dailies could be little tricks that can only be pulled off in certain situations.

Situational Awareness: Once the enemies see an encounter power used, they're on their guard against it.

Combat Awareness: Dailies are such complex moves that the user has to rest and practice it again before he can put it to effective use again.

Some will scream, "But they're NOT! They can be used anytime and anywhen, just once a day!"

Yes. To pull it in pure mechanical terms, that is absolutely correct. You can use your daily on a kobold minion. You can use it on a skeleton minion. You can use it on the white dragon overlord. There is no limit to when you can use it.

If you look at the game as anything past a game, and question it, then you're digging into the roots of the mechanics well beyond their purpose. The purpose of many (heck, almost all of 'em) of the game mechanics for D&D is to stimulate combat with various tricks and trades. Anything past that has to be brought to the table by the players and the game masters in my opinion. It's not in the scope of the books to provide that without the books themselves become massive tomes of design.

Without any snark, I'd say to such a person that they should try out a game like Hero where you can build in logical reasons for limitations if you chose them. For example, Guts cannon arm may have a limit of how much ammunition it carries and may have a 'charge 1' limit on it.
 


7. Too damn strong. You damage your weapon whenever you use that move, so you have to take several hours to fix it when your party camps. (Works best if you are bound to a specific weapon.)
 

How about this:

----

IVR System: Thank you for contacting Warlord Technologies. For sales, press 1. For customer service, press 2. For technical support, press 3.

Customer: *three*

IVR System: For combat-related abilities, press 1. For non-combat abilities, press 2.

Customer: *one*

IVR System: For healing and injury related issues, press 1. For basic attacks and maneuvers, press 2. For powers, press 3. For stunts, press 4.

Customer: *three*

IVR System: For general power related issues, press 1. For a specific power, press 2.

Customer: *two*

IVR System: Please enter the three digit power code now.

Customer: *one* *four* *three*

IVR System: The power you have selected is "Lead the Attack." There are no known issues with that power. For general troubleshooting steps, press 1. To speak to a customer service representative, press 2.

Customer: *two*

CSR: Thank you for contacting Warlord Technologies. How may I help you?

Customer: I'm calling about the "Lead the Attack" power. It doesn't work. I used it once and it worked fine, but then I used it again and it wouldn't work at all.

CSR: What specifically happened?

Customer: I try to use the power, and I think it hits and does damage, but it doesn't have its secondary effect.

CSR: Have you tried sleeping and then waking up again?

Customer: Yeah, when I do that, it works the next time but then it won't work again. And even when I reboot it still only works once per day.

CSR: It sounds like what's happening is that it's a Daily power. It's supposed to work like that. What happens is the targeting data transfer unit that you install in your weapon arm crashes after it is used for a while and needs to be rebooted.

Customer: I thought you said there were no issues! Well, at least can I return this and get a differend power that doesn't have that problem? I want to get the one that lets you stop the other guy from moving.

CSR: You mean the Pin the Foe power? That has the same use restriction. For that one, the force field projector has a very limited battery life and has to be recharged with your biological energy.

Customer:
I still want to return the power and get a different one.

CSR: Okay, please give me your name and hometown so I can look up your account details.

Customer: Jonathan Lionheart of Carpathia.

CSR: Okay. I'm looking up your account now. According to our records, you haven't earned any reward points yet. In order to take advantage of our retraining option, you have to earn enough reward points to increase your account level. Each time you upgrade your account you get one free retraining.

Customer: How do I earn reward points?

CSR: In order to earn reward points, you have to kill monsters and bring the monster carcasses into one of our redemption centers. Also, with our new "Quest Rewards" program, you can earn reward points by doing random favors for citizens located in all major cities in the kingdom. Just stop by a redemption center for more information, or look for people standing around aimlessly with an exclamation mark over their heads. And if you participate in our rewards program, then not only can you get free retraining options but you also get your choice of new powers as well as many other bonus rewards.
 

Whoah there, buckaroos.

I didn't post this as a "4e is bad" thread.

I do admit that I prefer 3e. This is one of the reasons...because I have an easier time coming up with fluff that makes it feel like I can "become" my character.

My hope with this thread was not to talk about how it can't be done, but to actually attempt to do it.

I figured with enough good examples, I might be able to more quickly and spontaneously come up with good fluff on my own for what is actually happening other than *It's a daily. Can't use it again*

When the game becomes about the rules without fluff to back them up, it sucks me right out of immersion. Does the fluff have to be perfect? No. But it can't be totally nonsensical or nonexistent either.

A game that is about "I get to move my piece next to the enemy" is different from "Zobar The Furious charges the dastardly Necromancer Dalruk." If I can't DESCRIBE what is happening when I invoke a rule, then I'm playing a game, but I'm not roleplaying. So, I need to figure out how to describe what happens, and have a story idea of why, whatever it is, or the answer really is "because abilities are tiered by power level, so the most powerful can only be used less often".

Tell that to Zobar.


So, to reiterate, I'm not asking or trying to prove how it can't be done (describe/explain the use of dailies)..I'm asking for attempts to do it. Some will be better, some worse, and probably none perfect...because ultimately there will always be a way to find a counterexample. It's a simulation of a fanstastical version of real life. Of course no rationale will be PERFECT.


So thank you to everyone who has offered up some rationales, and I'd love to hear more.
 

Future Sight: You glimpse what your enemy will do ahead of time and unleash a devistating attack on him before he can make his move.

Hidden Discipline: Unlike the moves every upstart knowns, if you unleash your best abilities too often it gives enemies the opportunity to copy and counter them. Them must be husbanded for only the times deemed necessary.
 

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